Bidfident for drainage contractors
Estimating software for drainage and utilities
For drainage and water mains, Bidfident prices pipe by the metre, trench dig and bedding by the cubic metre, and manholes by number. Pipelayers, plant operators and groundworkers each carry their own rate, the excavator gets its own hours on every line, the CCTV survey comes in as a subcontract package, and trench box hire and the site manager follow the programme week by week.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.
Sound familiar?
One excavator, very different hours
Digging trench takes the excavator minutes per cubic metre, setting a manhole takes hours. A spreadsheet with one plant rate gets both wrong. In Bidfident each line gives the excavator its own hours per unit.
Pipelayers at a blended rate
Pipelayers, plant operators and groundworkers end up at one average rate, and the price drifts as the gang changes. In Bidfident each line takes its trade's rate from the library, and any line can carry its own rate, marked in purple.
Trench box hire stuck at the old programme
The job grows from 7 weeks to 9, and the trench box and site manager stay where they were. In Bidfident weekly items linked to the job duration follow it.
How Bidfident fits your work
Pipe by the metre, manholes by number
Foul sewer and water main by the metre, trench and bedding by the cubic metre, manholes as nr. Each line has labour hours per unit and a materials price with a waste percentage.
Excavator hours line by line
The excavator can work 0.04 hours per cubic metre on trenching and 3 hours on each manhole. Each line charges it for its own hours, not the gang's.
Pipelayers, plant operators and groundworkers
Set a rate for each trade once in the library. Every line takes its trade's rate, so a pipe line and a bedding line are each priced right.
Trench box hire by the week
Hire the trench box and pay the site manager by the week, linked to the job duration. Change the weeks and both follow.
CCTV survey and testing quotes
Enter each quote for the CCTV survey or pressure testing, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you choose. Carry an allowance until quotes arrive.
Group by road or phase
Tag lines with an area or location, like a road or a phase of the development, and group the sheet with a subtotal for each.
Worked example: drainage and water mains for a 24-plot housing phase
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 28 lines of your own work, 4 subcontract packages and 5 preliminaries items over a 7-week programme. The 5 lines this page talks about are listed one by one, and the rest are added up in one row. It's the same job you can open as an example project in Bidfident, so every figure below matches it.
To open this job in Bidfident: sign in and set up your company in the UK, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Civils and groundworks" and "Drainage and utilities" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Trench excavation and backfill, 1,200 m3
| £6,840.00 |
PVC-U foul sewer, 200 mm, 360 m
| £11,811.60 |
PE water main, 150 mm, 340 m
| £12,063.20 |
Precast concrete manholes, 1200 mm rings, 5 nr
| £14,575.00 |
Pipe bedding and surround, 20 mm gravel, 270 m3
| £13,230.00 |
23 more lines of your own work
| £118,310.95 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
CCTV survey of the sewer
| £2,650.00 |
Carriageway reinstatement at connections
| £4,290.00 |
Setting out and as-built survey
| £3,795.00 |
Rock and boulder breaking, allowance
| £5,000.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site manager
| £11,200.00 |
Trench box hire
| £3,150.00 |
Mobilise excavator, backhoe and trench box
| £4,000.00 |
Traffic management at the connections
| £3,900.00 |
Site cabin
| £1,050.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| £176,830.75 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | £4,695.40 |
| Subcontractors | £15,735.00 |
Preliminaries
| £23,300.00 |
Direct cost
| £215,865.75 |
Contingency
| £8,634.63 |
Overheads and profit
| £22,450.04 |
| Subtotal before the bond | £246,950.42 |
Bond
| £2,469.50 |
Insurance
| £1,234.75 |
Tender total
| £250,654.67 |
VAT, for reference
| £50,130.93 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price pipe by the metre and manholes by number?
Yes. Units are free text, so m, m³ and nr work side by side. Bidfident doesn't convert between units.
Can a manhole line use more excavator time than a trench line?
Yes. Every line gives the excavator its own hours per unit, so each one is charged for the time it needs.
Can pipelayers have a different rate from plant operators?
Yes. Set a rate for each trade in the library. Any single line can also carry its own rate.
Can trench box hire follow the programme?
Yes. Add it by the week and link it to the job duration, and it updates when the duration changes.
Can I split the job by road or phase?
Yes. Tag lines with an area or location and group the sheet by it, with subtotals. The cost report can filter by them too.
Can it track pipe laid against the estimate?
No. Bidfident is for pricing the job. It doesn't do job costing against actuals or time tracking.
Does Bidfident work with Claude or ChatGPT?
Not yet, but it's coming. You'll be able to connect Bidfident to your own Claude or ChatGPT account and ask about your estimates in plain English. The answers will come from Bidfident's own figures, so they match the estimate. It will use the account you already have: Claude first, ChatGPT to follow.
Price your next drainage tender in Bidfident
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.